Association of Florida Colleges: Building the Future Through A Qualified Workforce

The
Association of Florida Colleges (AFC) provides a forum where all Florida
college employees have the

opportunity to learn from one another through
professional development workshops, general themed meetings, commission
business meetings, and best practice presentations for all commissions. FLATE
has been active in the Occupational and Workforce Education Commission since
2010, and has been awarded a Best Practice, Synergy
in the Sunshine State, for its collaborative partnership in designing,
promoting, and supporting the Engineering Technology (ET) A.S. degree program.
The ET program has now been adopted by 14 of Florida’s 28 state and community
colleges. AFC joint commission conferences such as the May 16-17, 2013 annual
spring conference, hosted by State College of Florida, Sarasota (Lakewood
Ranch) and the AFC Technology Commission offered as its theme the promise and
challenge of Building for the Future.
FLATE was pleased to present a workshop at this conference: Supplying Florida’s Ready-to-Workforce.

The
Manufacturers Association of Florida (MAF) supports 2013 legislation providing
incentives to Florida colleges that train students in certified programs that
will help students meet the needs of the changing job market. These types of
programs are seen by the state of Florida as an excellent resource toward economic
recovery based on U.S. manufacturing using new and emerging technologies. The
ET degree is one such program.

The
FLATE workshop discussed strategies for injecting relevant career skills into
college programs using

FLATE’s ET program as an exemplar. The ET A.S. degree
program packages stackable industry certifications, prepares students to enter
the workforce, and applies successful completion of the Manufacturing Skill
Standards Council (MSSC) Certified Production Technician (CPT) toward 15
credits of the ET A.S. degree for students successfully achieving the CPT. This
combination provides both knowledge and credentials, and supports the
technology-focused and high growth potential of advanced manufacturing. This
nationally recognized certification allows students to prove that they have the
skills and knowledge required for a good job in the high-tech workforce. The
certification covers four areas manufacturers say they are looking for in
employees: quality, safety, production processes, and maintenance awareness.

In
Florida high schools, the Automation and Production Technology (APT) framework
integrates the MSSC CPT certification into career academies letting students
earn college credit (15 credit hours toward the ET degree program) at any
offering Florida college for earning MSSC CPT. As well, high schools offering
the MSSC CPT integration earn bonus FTE funding as part of Florida’s CAPE
legislation. The program is helping high school graduates to be “career ready”
when they graduate high school: students needing to enter the workforce are
better able to find a job and begin earning money, and have an option to take
advantage of employer programs to complete their A.S. degree. The ET career
pathway can take students from high school, to Associate in Science, to a
Bachelors degree in engineering technology, with good jobs along the way due to
the industry aligned curriculum and industry preferred certification.

At
the AFC joint Commissions conference, attendees saw ways in which adult and
continuing education programs at colleges may intersect with occupational and
workforce training and traditional credit based coursework in the area of
industry certifications. Collaboration helps build and support new revenue
streams for colleges and in turn helps Florida's colleges continue to secure
Florida's future by offering a world-class workforce that can compete in a
global economy. The Florida Chamber of Commerce supports efforts to make
Florida more competitive in the manufacturing industry and looks to double
Florida-origin exports by 2015; programs such as the engineering technology degree
serve as a cornerstone for building a workforce in support of our important
manufacturing industry.

NOCTI Book

If you are new to CTE administration or considering moving into that arena, you might want to check out this new resource published by ACTE and written by NOCTI. There are lots of hot tips, check lists and and case studies / notes from the field including our experiences here at FLATE working with our industry partners through advisory committees or boards. (You can find FLATE on page 56!). You don’t have to re-invent the wheel.

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Disclaimer

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation, under the following grant DUE# 1204751. "Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation."